In this case, there were several things I did to make the photo work. If you have a sky as the background, you also need to think about what will be in the foreground. Compose your picture and think about what in the frame you want to highlight.

I knew I wanted show the distinctive veins in the lilies and the yellow flower but I needed something to supplement the flat lighting outside. I used a flash but I took it off the camera’s hot shoe. My Canon 7D allows me to trigger the strobe wirelessly so it would fire without a synch cord.

By moving the flash off camera at different angles, it creates a sense of texture and mood to the image. For this photo, the flash was placed low and to the right, creating the dramatic shadows contrast make the foreground pop!

Years ago, shooting film was expensive but now with digital photography you have the freedom to shoot a lot of photos and experiment. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. You might make some mistakes, but believe me, you’ll learn from them.